CJ Abrams hit a home run in the first play of the game, helping the Washington Nationals win 2-0 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday and securing the series victory.
Nationals pitcher Jake Irvin (1-1) threw six innings without allowing any runs to earn his first win of the season. He only gave up four hits and pitched well.
“He’s been amazing,” said Washington manager Dave Martinez. “He keeps improving every game. He gave us exactly what we needed today.”
Landon Knack (0-1) made his debut for the Dodgers as a pitcher.
Abrams hit the second pitch of the game for a home run to right-center field, marking his third leadoff home run in his career.
Joey Menses hit a sacrifice fly later in the first inning to bring in another run. These two runs were all that was needed to win the game.
After a shaky start, Knack calmed down and retired 12 batters in a row after the first inning. “Starting off, I was a bit nervous,” Knack said. “But I settled in and started to feel normal after the first inning.”
He allowed two earned runs on four hits, striking out four and walking one.
Mookie Betts, who had five hits in the previous game, didn’t get any hits in this one. Shohei Ohtani, however, had a great game, hitting three singles in four at-bats.
“Shohei did a fantastic job today,” said manager Dave Roberts. “He did well at controlling the strike zone and hitting the ball hard when he got the chance. He can do even better if he keeps it up.”
